A delay and potential future elimination of steel mill regulations meant to limit hazardous air pollution puts public health at risk, environmentalists say.
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project found an air monitor at U.S. Steel's Gary Works mill registered a chromium level at the fenceline of 0.155 micrograms per cubic meter over a six-month period in 2022 that was more than double the threshold for contributing to chronic health problems. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took seven enforcement actions against the steel mill along Gary's lakefront for violating the Clean Air Act over the last five years.
The Environmental Integrity Project said relaxing the regulations would potentially expose the public to dangerous levels of toxic pollutants, including benzene and chromium, outside steel mills in Northwest Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan.
“It’s clear the steel industry needs common-sense rules to protect the health and safety of workers and the people who live downwind from plants, because of the dangerous chemicals they handle and release,” said Jen Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project.
The Trump administration has been rolling back environmental regulations, announcing in March it would lessen regulations on oil, gas, power plants, the auto sector and other industries. Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin said such rules were a hidden tax on citizens and removing them would lower the cost of living and create jobs.
The Environmental Integrity Project said new regulations the Biden administration adopted this year would help limit public exposure to the hazardous toxins of benzene and chromium. A heavy metal, chromium can cause breathing problems, ulcers and damage to the male reproductive system. It includes hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen that the Midwest Plant accidentally discharged into Lake Michigan and that has been linked to lung cancer. Benzene is a carcinogen that's been linked to blood disorders and immune system damage.
The environmental group filed a lawsuit earlier this month to try to ensure the regulations, which include fenceline monitoring and air pollution controls, will still go into effect this year as they were scheduled to.
“We’ve got to demand a future with clean, sustainable steel that keeps our jobs and communities safe here in Northwest Indiana," retired steelworker and union activist Terry Steagall said. "EPA’s decision to delay critical rules designed to protect us from toxic emissions perpetuates the unfortunate trend of treating the region as a toxic sacrifice zone for industry to poison the land, air, water and people.”
The Environmental Integrity Project Report found that 17 of 20 major integrated steel mills and coke batteries were out of compliance with the Clean Air Act for at least one quarter over the past three years. Ten of them were out of compliance for the entire time over the last three years, according to EPA data.
In 2023, the steel mills and coke batteries emitted 2.4 million tons of airborne toxins, including soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, and 43.3 million tons of greenhouse gases scientists say cause climate change, or about the same as 10.1 million gas-powered cars, according to the Environmental Integrity Project's study. Integrated steel facilities released 8.3 billion tons of chromium compounds and 6.7 billion tons of benzene in 2023.
"I have testified at numerous EPA and IDEM public meetings and hearings to lower legal limits on air and water discharge pollution — that seems to go on deaf ears at EPA and IDEM. If we care about future generations, we must set a goal of zero pollution," Steagall said. "The steel industry has to 'do better to be better,' if we are going to have a sustainable steel industry into the future."
Self-reported emissions fail to capture the full extent of the pollution the way fenceline monitoring would, according to the Environmental Integrity Project.
"The steel industry has been polluting Northwest Indiana for over 100 years, and Mother Earth is telling us she has had enough with the impact of climate change happening right in front of us," Steagall said. "Even with the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, EPA has given the steel industry legal limits to pollute the air, land and water with severe negative impact on the environment and the health of the people living in the steel communities."
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